Some advice on lure selection and trolling tips

[Little Hooker]

hey guys,

Im pretty new to the deep water fishing so im in need of some advice to get me on my first big tuna/mahi or dare i say marlin.

I tend to fish more coast/inshore but im starting to get out abit wider in search of bigger fish.

My tackle ranges from 2 saltish 50H with 400mtr 60lb braid and 2 tekota 500 with 300mtr 30lb. with a a coulpe jiggin out fit for those kings i dearly love.

On Australia day i took my boat ( 5.3 half cab with 100hp with NO out riggers) to the deepest widest ive been . We had a plan setted out. Botany bay Fad's - Fad's wide - 12mile reef - The peak- Home.

The fads had no signs of life what so ever and 12mile showed up pretty bear on my sounder but the peak showed abit of activity and only mannage a deccent bonnie of the jig. So after a day worth of trolling we landed 3 stripey biggest went for 5kg and a bonnie off the jig. I have a little range of lures but TBH dont know whats colour attracks what. Out of the range i have here which 4 lures could possibly yield me some sort of fat tuna or mahi etc???

The lures ive only used and had running in my spread that day was The ballyhoo, black magic african worrior 4oz, bahama lumo green 7" Red and white feather lure. The ballyhoo caught the biggest stripey and the red and white got the most attenion and stripey that day no other species.

I was trolling around 8 to 10knots but from what ive read ppl like to do it at 6.5 to 8 knots??? Also when you troll out wide do you jus go out say east and head back in west or would troll north to south or what ever?? Some enlightening would be handy.

So excited i went out to buy a zuker dark purlpe lure as ive been told thats a hit for for mahi and tuna and was showed a pic of a mahi mahi at 14kg caught last week around the same area i was in . I can say it was a horse and would love to boat something like that

Any opinions and advice would be greatly apreciated

[GregL]

G'day LH

Re your lure selection, from the right I would go the first 3 and number 5 and swap the Zuker with the ballyhoo when you want a lure change. I think the biggest thing with speed is to have your lures popping well threw the water. Different lures will run better at diffent speeds and conditions. Even running up and down current or into or with the swell makes a massive difference in lure action.

I like mine to pop out every 5 seconds or so and they all leave 10ft or more smoke trails out the back of them. If it's not I will change the lure to something that will.

When your setting a lure, as your letting it out, stop it so it surfs on one of your wake waves, 3/4 up the face seems to be the best position in my wash and lure combo. Try different distances behind the boat to see where each lure swims the best then remember for best working spread. Remember tho, you can speeed the boat up and slow it down to get it to work better to whilst your setting the spread.

Make sure you set close to the boat to. My first back is only 3 waves back, maybe 6m behind right in the prop wash. We score heaps of dollies here.

Anyways good luck with it and hope to see you out there one day!

[Kiwi]

Hi Little Hooker,

I sent you a pm with a heap of info to keep you busy for a while.

Cheers Rowan

My favorite marlin lures are

Pakula Lumo sprocket or illusion

Black Bart purple black

Joe Yee Apollo Evil

Zuker 5.5 Purple Black

Tuna love 100-150mm tuna clones- blue/white, yellow/green, purple black

and also christmes trees from 50mmup to 150mm

[Little Hooker]

Gday Greg,

Thanks for that input it will surely be put into use when i head out again. Been out a few times and startin to learn and try alot of things i read off the forums and pakula site. Also tryin to get my crew to read up on the same info as its to much for one person to control the boat spot the signs and catch fish. I seem to be only catching stripey's when i go out other then that its seems pretty quite for me . I can say bye bye to my 2 big skirts ( red/white and black/green) due to a cracked guide in a rod i was using . So im on the market for more skirts now! and gezz they cost so much and on top of that petrol (not costly as your boat) gets bloody expensive. But i need to a fix for my addiction

Gday rowan,

Thanks again for the link which is a ripper of a site. So much to learn and to understand everything but i guess when i do hook up a beast it will be all worth it!

Cheers for the lure choice.... Im goin to google and get some imagines now.

Thanks all, LH

[yalta]

get yourself some mbt 5in terror's or 4in micro psycho's the dollies just climb all over them...